The Orphan and the Two Lords
by Celestina Van Helsing
Summary: A little girl is plagued by night, dreaming of men in bow-ties, and wolves, and big blue boxes. But how did they get into her head, and can the real man in the bow-tie, the Doctor, do anything to help her? 1st in a series called 'A Daughter of Time'.
1. Prologue

**OoOoOoOoO**

The darkness that shrouded the orphanage was as black as ink, and not one pinprick of light could be seen through the haze. Along each wall there were a row of ten small beds, and lying in them sound asleep were ten little girls, oblivious to the cares of the world around them. Nothing could stir them from their slumber; not one sound could penetrate the barriers which sleep surrounded them with, and this was just another ordinary night in the orphanage, where they would dream of the day that someone would come and adopt them, taking them away from the sad life they knew.

But don't think that their lives were completely sad, or unfulfilled, for this was not true at all. All of the little girls were friends with each other, and played together to their hearts content.

All, that is, except one.

The house mother had called her a problem child, potentially unable to be adopted by anyone, but she didn't care. She lived in a world built completely inside her head, and she never ever wanted to leave it.

At least, not until the funny man in the bow-tie came along. He wasn't exactly the nicest man she knew, but he wasn't the meanest either; not at first, at any rate. Besides, that title went to the mean old man who lived at the end of the street. There was something inherently strange about the man in the bow-tie, and he didn't make her feel very comfortable whenever he appeared in her dreamworld.

Sometimes she wished that he would just go away.

It was one of these nights that she wished he would leave her alone, and she struggled while she slept, fighting to awaken herself before he could let the strange things he kept in her head touch her. In a matter of moments, her eyes shot open, and she gasped a great lungfull of air, and then rolled out of bed, landing with a muffled thump as her bedclothes cushioned her fall. She emerged from the thick blankets, muttering curses that would get her into even deeper trouble than when the house mother discovered that she was out of bed. She scrambled to her feet, and continued to disentangle herself from the bedclothes, then began to remake her bed. She was certain that she wouldn't get any more sleep that night, not when the man in the bow-tie had things that could hurt her the moment she closed her eyes.

She glanced at the window, trying to think about what to do and how she would get out of trouble when the house mother showed up. But that was forgotten just as quickly when she thought she saw something flicker in the corner of her eye. She blinked, then noticed the flicker again, but this time it was much clearer and more opaque than transparent. She stood from the bed, then walked over to the window and pressed her face up against the glass, moving away only to wipe it with her sleeve when her breath fogged it up. She had a full view of the courtyard now, and she could see something appearing on the grounds below. This was the flicker, she realised, as a rectangular structure creaked and groaned into existence. There was nothing remarkable about the structure, although she found the hue of the blue paint pleasing to her young eyes. She smiled.

"He _came_," she murmured, softly enough that she was the only one to hear it.

**OoOoOoOoO**


	2. Chapter 1

**OoOoOoOoO**

**The Orphan and the Two Lords**

**By Susan Henry**

The little girl bundled herself up in her warmest clothes, and carefully crept out of the bedroom she shared with the other orphaned girls, making sure she remained as quiet as a mouse. The house mother was surely fast asleep, but she could wake up at any moment for a myriad of reasons, and getting caught was entirely out of the question. In fact she was surprise the house mother wasn't already awake, considering how loud the noise was when the blue box had appeared in the courtyard. The little girl could feel the emptiness of the house around her, as she crept through the room, and the silence was positively maddening. There were voices outside now, and she could just make out part of their conversation, making her curious as to how they got there, what they wanted, and if they could help her. She had a vague idea who the man was, but she didn't recognise the girl's, save for the fact that she sounded Scottish.

"...what on earth are we doing here, Doctor?" she heard the girl say as she reached the front door, opening it just a touch.

"Don't know," the Doctor replied, glancing around the courtyard, as if he was expecting someone. "I got a message on the psychic paper, and I just used the coordinates it gave me." He looked around, trying to get his bearings. "Although we're definitely on Earth."

The little girl tiptoed out of the orphanage now, and into the courtyard, her slippers padding softly on the stone footpath. The voices were louder now, and she could hear an odd whirring noise from the stick that the man carried in his hand. She took another step forward... and stepped on a dry twig and breaking it with a resounding _crack_!

"What was that?" asked Amy, her head snapping up in the direction of the noise.

At first, the little girl's instincts told her to run, but her legs didn't want to cooperate. She was trapped.

The Doctor turned, and noticed the child standing on the footpath, a broken twig underneath her slipper clad foot. He smiled. "Hello," he said pleasantly, approaching the girl, "now where did you come from?"

"Are you the Doctor?" she asked, neglecting to answer his own question first. "The man in my head said that the only person who could help me was the Doctor," she continued, not waiting for him to answer, "and that he didn't always come when someone needed him." She cocked her head to one side. "But you did come, so he must have lied. So are you the Doctor, and have you come to help me?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised by the child's eloquence, but not surprised at all by her precociousness. "Do you always speak to strangers that way?"

The girl shrugged. "That depends," she replied.

"On what?" asked Amy.

"On whether or not I'm talking to strangers," said the little girl. "If you're the Doctor, then you're not a stranger." She frowned. "Now are you going to answer me or not?"

The Doctor thought about this for a moment, weighing up the merits of answering the little girl's question. There was something not quite right about her, but not dangerous or evil, just... _off_. He still didn't know who sent him the message on the psychic paper, and he very much doubted that a little girl had the mental power to send it herself, but the mention of a man in her head set off alarm bells. He raised a finger in the air, then took Amy's hand with the other. "One moment," he said, leading Amy back to the TARDIS.

"What are you _doing_, Doctor?" Amy hissed. "Aren't you going to help that girl; because she certainly thinks you can."

"There is something wrong with that little girl," the Doctor replied. "I can't put my finger on it; not yet anyway, but I don't think we should let her out of our sight."

Amy nodded. "All right, in that case you should tell her you're the Doctor, since she's not going to let up until you do."

"You're right," the Doctor muttered. "Though I don't know how she knows me."

"You think it might be like with River?" Amy suggested. "Maybe she's met you before, but you haven't met her yet?"

The Doctor shook his head, waving his hand at her in dismissal. "No, it doesn't feel like that; not this time."

Back on the footpath, the little girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you done talking about me?" she called. "My ears are burning like nothing on earth!"

Breaking away from Amy, the Doctor approached the little girl, studying her appearance. There was a pang of familiarity, but the feeling was fleeting. Something was in this girl's head, and that something must have been familiar with him, considering what she'd said about it telling her about him. "What are you?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you; how do you know about me?" He knelt so he was now at the little girl's eye level. "What's inside your head, and how does it know about me?"

The little girl swallowed, now feeling simultaneously intimidated and intrigued by his actions. He didn't seem to act like other adults. Other adults always seemed to act like they were afraid of her, particularly after she told them about the voice in her head. They all thought she was crazy by the time they were finished with her. But not this man. If he was the Doctor, and she was very sure of that, then he would definitely be able to help her. "Tell me who you are," she said evenly, "and then I'll tell you who I am."

The Doctor stood up, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Fair enough," he replied, but made no effort to do as she asked.

The little girl raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me if you're the Doctor?"

The Doctor's expression turned to annoyance. "Of course I am!" he exclaimed. He heard Amy giggle behind him, muttering "Does it always take you this long to introduce yourself?", then glanced back and waved her over to join him. He turned back to address the little girl. "Have you always spoken to your elders like this?" he queried.

"Not really," the little girl replied. "But then, adults usually don't like to talk to me. They think I'm weird, and so do the other girls." She frowned. "Why are you avoiding my question?" she said. "It's not that hard to tell a person who they are, is it?"

Amy grinned. "She's got you there," she said. "Better answer her before the night's over."

"All right. All _right_," the Doctor said with exasperation. He knelt in front of the girl, then took one of her little hands in his own and shook it gently. "Hello, I'm the Doctor."

**OoOoOoOoO**

The little girl grinned. "I knew it," she said happily. "I knew as soon as I saw the blue box!" She let out a squeal of delight and launched herself at the Doctor, giving him the biggest hug she could muster, which surprised him enough that he had little choice but to hug her back."The man with the bow-tie said you wouldn't come, but I knew you would!"

The Doctor gently pulled away from the little girl, but kept his hands firmly on her shoulders. "What man with the bow-tie?" he asked, knowing full well that she had not fulfilled her end of the bargain and told him who she was. "What does he look like?"

The little girl cast her eyes to the ground. "He comes to me when I'm sleeping, and sometimes during the day, when I daydream. He sends things after me to try and hurt me, and then tells me the only one who can help me is the Doctor." She sighed. "The house mother thinks I'm lying when I try and tell her, and whenever someone comes to visit, or to try and adopt one of us, they don't believe me either. They all think I'm lying, or I'm crazy. You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

"No, I don't think you're crazy," the Doctor replied, "and I don't think you're lying either. But I'm not sure I can help you unless we've introduced ourselves properly. Names are powerful things, you know."

"They are?" the little girl asked, looking up at him with wonder.

Amy couldn't help but smile, recognising the little girl's behaviour since she had been in the same position all those years ago. By the end of it all, this girl would want to come with them, and the Doctor was going to break her heart, just like he broke hers. She didn't understand it then, but the Doctor's world was far too dangerous for a young child, no matter how plucky and brave they were. Maybe there was a way to circumvent that, or to stop it from happening entirely, but now wasn't the time to think about that.

Now was the time to solve this little girl's problem.

"My name is Robyn Guinevere Lawson," she said proudly, as if she were imparting knowledge of the greatest importance.

The Doctor grinned. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Robyn shook her head, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. "No, it wasn't," she agreed. "So does this mean you're going to help me now?"

"Well, I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do." He took Robyn by the hand. "Come with me," he said, leading her to the TARDIS, while Amy followed closely behind. "I'll be able to take a better look at you in here."

The sight that met Robyn's eyes when she crossed the threshold of the Police Box was amazing, beautiful, and terrifying all at once. It was exactly as the man in the bow-tie had shown her, in every small detail. There was the console right in the middle of the room, and the steam rising from the floor, and the noticeboards. She immediately got the urge to play with the bits and bobs hanging off the console, but she knew things like that could wait, and the Doctor probably wouldn't like her doing that anyway. "She's beautiful," Robyn murmured. "I knew she would be."

"You're not surprised that she's bigger on the inside?" asked Amy.

"Why, should I be?" Robyn replied, a wide grin on her face. "I think she's cool. It's like magic."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say that it wasn't magic, that the inside of the TARDIS was just another dimension, but thought better of it. He'd let the girl interpret it however she liked. "Would you like to take a look around?" he said instead. "I'm sure there's something around here that you'd like."

Robyn thought for a moment, trying to remember what the man in the bow-tie told her about the blue box. He'd said there was a library, and swimming pool, and that the swimming pool was _in_ the library, and he'd said there were beautiful gardens full of flowers from all kinds of climates. She liked flowers, and gardens, and the things you could find in them when you looked really carefully. She liked animals too, though she didn't remember the man in the bow-tie telling her if there were any animals in the blue box. Then she yawned and rubbed her eyes, remembering how late it was.

And then she heard the birds.

"Not again," she moaned.

The Doctor was by the little girl's side in an instant, catching her as she fainted dead away. This wasn't a normal slumber, he noticed, this was a much deeper sleep than normal. This was disturbingly similar to the coma like state that the Dream Lord put them into when the psychic pollen had warmed up in the time rotor. But how, and why, was it happening to a normal little girl? What was so special about her that the Dream Lord saw fit to torment her while she slept?

"Doctor, what's wrong?" asked Amy, the concern for Robyn showing on her face as plain as day. "What's happened to her?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, only telling her half of the truth. She didn't remember the incident with the Dream Lord, not since Rory had been taken by the Crack. "And I don't think I will until she wakes up."

"And when's that going to be?"

"Whenever the man in the bow-tie decides to release her."

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Take me back!" Robyn yelled. "I don't belong here! This isn't _real!_"

As soon as she'd fallen asleep in the TARDIS, Robyn had woken up in the bedroom of the house she'd lived in with her parents before they died. She threw off the bedclothes and jumped out of bed, then raced out the door and down the stairs. She knew that the house wasn't real because it burned down not long after her parents deaths. An electrical fault or something, they'd said. Her godparents had moved in to take care of her, and then lost their own lives saving her from the fire, and that was how she'd ended up at the orphanage, because there was no one, absolutely no other living relatives, that could take her in. But the other reason she knew it was a dream, even though any other child would have loved it, was one small heartbreaking detail.

She knew it was a dream because her parents were alive.

"Hey Robbie!" said Phillipa Lawson, as Robyn came skidding into the kitchen. "What's the rush?"

"You're not _real!_" Robyn exclaimed. "You, and Dad, you're both dead, and I'm supposed to be in an orphanage, and..." She started to cry. "This isn't real, I know it isn't, and the man in the bow-tie is going to send his things after me at any moment, and... and..."

Phillipa moved to her daughter's side and gathered her into a big hug. "Have you been having bad dreams again?" she asked, stroking the child's hair.

Robyn stiffened in her mother's arms. As much as she wanted it to be real, standing there with her mother trying to comfort her was wrong, and she knew it was wrong, but the man in the bow-tie wanted her to think that it was right, and if she listened to him, if she accepted this world where she wasn't an orphan and she still had her mother and father... Robyn pulled away sharply, stepping away from her not-mother as far as she could. "You're not real," she said again. "The man in the bow-tie says you're real, but I know he lies, because somewhere out in the real world, the Doctor's come to help me and when he knows how to help me you're going to go away forever."

"But why would you want that to happen?" a man said behind her.

Robyn whirled around and came face to face, or as close as she could because of the height difference, with the man in the bow-tie. "Because I know what's real and what isn't, and I want to live in the real world. I don't want everyone to think I'm a liar or I'm crazy. I... I want... I want a real family, not this."

"But this can be real," said the man in the bow-tie, "if you let it. You'll have your real parents again, and you'll live in the house you grew up in, and everything will work out just fine."

"But it _won't!_" Robyn insisted. "Because unless I accept this reality you'll send... things... after me, because that's what you always do before I wake up!"

The man in the bow-tie sighed and shook his head. "I only do that because you disobey me. If you did as you were told, I wouldn't have to resort to such measures."

Robyn smiled conspiratorially. "None of that's going to matter soon," she said. "The Doctor came for me, and he said he will help me, once he works out how he can help me." The relief in her voice was unmistakable. "He'll save me, because that's what he does."

"He doesn't save everyone," said the man in the bow-tie, "and I know that better than anyone."

Robyn's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"That isn't important," the man in the bow-tie retorted. "But should you be ignoring your mother?"

"She's _not _my mother!" Robyn cried, tears falling freely down her face once again. "My mother is _dead! _My father is _dead!_"

By now, all Robyn wanted was to wake up, to be able to tell the Doctor what was going on. The man in the bow-tie had told her the Doctor could help her, and she was going to believe that for as long as she lived. She'd had enough of this fantasy world, especially since it was no longer under her control. It was about time that the man in the bow-tie left, and Robyn would do everything in her power to facilitate that. "I want to wake up," she eased out through her tears. "I want to wake up, back in the TARDIS, with the Doctor, and that girl... That's the real world, and that's where I want to be."

The man in the bow-tie glanced behind Robyn and grinned. "Are you sure about that?" he asked, his eyes transfixed on Robyn's mother... or what used to be Robyn's mother. "I told you not to ignore your mother."

Robyn turned around slowly, then saw what the man in the bow-tie was hinting at. In the spot where Phillipa Lawson stood not moments before was a creature, one of the same creatures that the man in the bow-tie would send after her before she woke up. It was a strange mix between a bear, a wolf, and something Robyn couldn't even begin to describe, but she knew, whatever it was, that she needed to run at that very moment. The man in the bow-tie had won again, this time, but now that she had the Doctor on her side, she was sure the man in the bow-tie wasn't going to win again.

And so she ran.

The creature took off in pursuit, salivating at the thought of the tasty morsel that was trying to get away. It wasn't constrained by the ideas of what was real and what wasn't, it only knew that it was hungry, and it wanted to eat at that very moment.

It wanted Robyn.

**OoOoOoOoO**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The Doctor watched the little girl as she slept in the infirmary. She spoke, but in unintelligible mumbles, so he noted that he would have to ask her what she experiencing. There was a pronounced look of fear on her face, that much was obvious. He wondered how he would broach the subject of the Dream Lord, and how to tell her who he was. She was already scared enough as it was without him adding to it. Yes, he could tell she was scared, for all her bravado. She was just a little girl after all, and little girls weren't always equipped to handle strange things invading their world. Girls like Amy, on the other hand, were the exception, but even that didn't stop them from being scared once in a while. It was normal behavior after all. He looked up when Amy appeared in the doorway, bearing a tray with three cups of tea and a plate of Jammie Dodgers.

"Has she woken up yet?" she asked, entering the room gingerly. "Or is she still out like a light?"

"Still out, I'm afraid," the Doctor replied, as Amy set the tray down on the table next to him.

Amy pulled over a chair and sat down. "So have you figured out what's wrong with her yet?" she said, grabbing a Jammie Dodger and taking a bite.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, and I won't know until she wakes up. I already told you that."

Amy sighed. "Yeah, you did, but you also said that wouldn't happen until the man in the bow-tie released her." She frowned. "Who's the man in the bow-tie?"

"It could be anyone," the Doctor replied, fingering his own bow-tie. "Even someone she's just met the once. Children remember the strangest things sometimes."

"Like raggedy Doctors?"

The Doctor smiled despite himself. "Like raggedy Doctors."

Amy looked at Robyn closely. "She looks like you," she said, observing the similarities between the sleeping child and the ancient Time Lord. "Same dark hair, same grey-green eyes... she could easily be mistaken for your daughter."

"_What?_" The Doctor squeaked. He coughed, then took a deep breath. "No, no, that's just..."

"About right, isn't it?"

The Doctor picked up one of the cups of tea and drank deeply. Amy was right, as much as he hated to admit it. But he wasn't about to admit as much. He'd been a father once, and a grandfather, and yes, he could see how Robyn could be mistaken for his daughter. He could see the similarities, and it scared him. It scared him because that knowledge might give the girl ideas, ones that couldn't be fulfilled. If he let her grow too attached to him, there'd be no stopping her. She'd worm her way into his hearts, and he wouldn't be able to get rid of her.

Wait a second.

If _he_ let _her_ get too attached?

What about him getting too attached to her? It certainly wouldn't be the first time a child fell under his spell, and it wouldn't be the first time he reciprocated. It was how he met Amy, after all. If he hadn't crashed into her life when she was still young and impressionable, then he might not have been sitting here, sharing tea and Jammie Dodgers with her. No, he couldn't let Robyn get too close, and he was out of practice when it came to parenting anyway, if his slip up with Elliot was anything to go by.

Just then, he heard Robyn let out an anguished cry, then shoot up stock straight in the bed. Tears began to stream down her face. The Doctor moved over to the bed, then gathered the child in his arms. "Shh, it's all right now," he said, trying to sound soothing, but failing miserably. Yes, he was definitely out of practice when it came to parenting. "You're awake now, and the man in the bow-tie can't hurt you here." He smoothed the little girl's hair, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Amy brought some tea, and some Jammie Dodgers. Would you like some?"

Robyn nodded carefully, hiccuping from all the crying she'd done. "Yes, please."

Amy passed the Doctor a cup, and a couple of biscuits, which he gingerly passed on to Robyn. "Are you right to tell me what you saw?" the Doctor asked, once Robyn had drank some of the tea, and eaten one of the biscuits. "Take it slowly, though, and tell me if you're uncomfortable, all right?"

"All right," Robyn replied, sniffling a little. She began to recount what she'd been through while she slept, telling them everything in complete detail. Everything she'd seen and felt, from the presence of her mother, the house she'd lived in, and the man in the bow-tie. But when she got to the monster, she paused, unsure of herself. "I don't know what it is," she said. "But every time the man in the bow-tie sends it after me, that's when I wake up."

The Doctor frowned. At first he thought that Robyn had not the mental prowess to send him the message on the psychic paper, and he still believed that to be true, to a point. But now the possibility occurred to him that the Dream Lord had enhanced latent psychic abilities in the child and sent him the message himself to lure him into a trap. He was just using this girl, and scaring her half to death for the hell of it.

It needed to end.

"What's happening to me, Doctor?" asked Robyn, now biting into the second Jammie Dodger, crumbs landing on the blankets as she spoke. "Have you worked out how to help me now?"

"Not yet," he replied. "I still need more to work with."

Amy looked at him uneasily. "And how do you suggest going about that?" she asked, a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll need to get inside your head," said the Doctor, addressing Robyn, but answering Amy's question at the same time. "Then I can see for myself. I mean, I've got a fair idea, but having more to go on always helps."

Robyn looked at him fearfully. "You want to go inside my head?"

"If you'll let me. Anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door, locked, I might add, and I won't be able to see anything behind them." He looked at her carefully. "While I'm there I won't let anything hurt you." He smiled slightly. "Trust me, I'm the Doctor, remember?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

Robyn stared at the Doctor thoughtfully, taking her time to decide if she should allow him to do as he asked. She was frightened, but if it was the only way he could help her, then letting him inside her head was what she needed to do."Would it hurt?" she asked hesitantly, quickly adding, "When you go inside my head, I mean." A sudden thought struck her, and she frowned. "How would you do it, anyway?" she continued, pulling away from him slightly. "Can you do some weird mind tricks which could do something funny to my brain?" She made an odd gesture with her hands to prove her point, which made Amy burst out laughing and almost drop her cup of tea in the process.

The Doctor grinned, pleased that the child managed to make a joke despite her predicament. "Something like that," he replied. "But I won't do anything funny to your brain." He saluted irreverently. "Time Lord's honour."

"That's good," Robyn said with relief. "I wouldn't want to let you into my head, then find I've forgotten how to walk once you're out."

"You won't forget how to walk," the Doctor reassured her. "Unless you want to?" he added, the expression of his face turning to one of mock seriousness.

Robyn laughed, but it was more like a giggle; the sort of high pitched giggle little girls let out when they found something, or someone, incredibly amusing. "No, I like knowing how to walk, and I like knowing how to run too, so I don't want anything to happen that makes me forget."

The Doctor nodded, then looked at Amy and smiled sadly... an action that was not lost on her, even though she couldn't understand why.

"So, how are you going to get inside my head?" Robyn continued, missing Amy's bewildered look as she addressed the Doctor. "I know I have to imagine doors if there's anything I don't want you to see, but what do I have to do if there's something I _do_ want you to see?"

"You won't need to worry about that," said the Doctor. "Everything you see, I'll see too."

Robyn nodded, accepting this explanation with no complaints. She finished off the tea, then clambered out of the Doctor's lap and got out of bed. "What do I have to do then?" she asked, looking at Amy, then back at the Doctor. "I don't have to do anything special, do I?"

"No, you won't have to do anything, just leave it all to me."

The expression on Robyn's face turned to one almost like disappointment. She thought that there might be something she could do, because she wanted to feel useful, since nobody let her do anything anyway. It was a side-effect of being left on her own all the time. No one wanted anything to do with her, so nobody let her do anything with them.

Amy noticed this, and then looked at the Doctor pointedly. "You sure there isn't _something_ she could do?" she said, emphasising her point by glancing at Robyn. "There's nothing you need to know before you go inside her head?"

"No," the Doctor replied, not getting the hint. "I'm right, you're right, Robyn's right..." He paused when Amy raised her eyebrows, and then glanced at Robyn again, indicating the look of disappointment on the little girl's face. "Although," he continued, finally getting the hint, "there's _one_ thing that she could do."

Robyn looked at him in amazement. "There is?"

"There is," the Doctor echoed. He stood from the bed. "If I'm going to go inside your head, I'm going to need to know when you're going to fall asleep, won't I?"

"Oh yeah," said Robyn, smiling sheepishly. "I forgot about that."

The Doctor clapped his hands together. "In the meantime though, I think we should take you exploring," he declared. "Anywhere on this ship, anything you can think of, is here. There's the library, the swimming pool, though occasionally the two of them like to band together, and there's the gardens, and the observatory -"

"There's an observatory?" asked Amy, surprised that this was the first time she was hearing any of this. "And gardens?"

"Of course there is," the Doctor replied, looking at her in confusion. "Hasn't she shown you where they are?"

"No, she hasn't."

The Doctor looked at Amy in confusion once again, then realised why she didn't remember the gardens, or the observatory. He winced.

She didn't remember them because she'd been to them with _Rory_.

Which subsequently meant she didn't remember seeing them _because_ she'd been to them with Rory.

"Then we'll go look for them together," the Doctor continued, feelings of guilt bubbling up inside despite how much he tried to suppress them. He held out his hand to Robyn, who gripped it firmly, then held out the other to Amy. "Coming, Pond?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Wow," was the first and only thing Robyn could say upon seeing the gardens for the first time. At least, the first time she saw them in the waking world. The sights were amazingly beautiful, and the smells were overpowering, almost sickeningly sweet, but she didn't care. She was grateful to be able to experience it for real, instead of just as a dream. The man in the bow-tie had told her all about the gardens, but what he had told her was nothing compared to the real thing. The Doctor eagerly pointed out which were the best flowers, and told where they came from, and how he got them, and a couple of times he even had to pull Robyn out of the way before some particularly carnivorous plants decided to make her their lunch.

"Why on earth would you have something like _that_lurking in the TARDIS?" asked Amy, after the third time they had to rescue Robyn from the maw of one of the aforementioned carnivorous plants. "Do you keep them around to get rid of unwanted TARDIS guests or something?"

"Uh, yes," the Doctor replied, a little too quickly for Amy's liking. "Not originally, of course, but they proved a little too effective when keeping unwanted guests out."

Amy didn't look impressed, nor did she believe him. "So, what did you originally keep them for, Doctor?"

The Doctor mumbled something unintelligible underneath his breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

The Doctor snorted. "Keeping out unwanted TARDIS guests," he repeated, a little more louder this time, so Amy could understand him. "I had a problem with some... intruders, about five... or was it six... bodies ago. They must've found their way here, and... well... you can probably guess the rest."

Amy's face turned pale. "Oh."

Robyn winced. "Ew. That's not good."

"No, it isn't," the Doctor agreed, leading them away from the the carnivorous plants, and towards a section of flowerbeds overflowing with different types of roses. "Now, these are much better," he said, showing off the blooms with a sweeping gesture. "Kithalian Moon Roses," he announced, drawing Robyn close to the flowers so she could smell them. "The most fragrant flowers in the universe, and completely unmatched by anything else, no matter how hard seasoned botanists try to replicate them."

And the Doctor was right, Robyn realised, for the scent of the roses was absolutely heavenly, if not a little _too_ sweet for her tastes, but wonderful all the same. "Can I..." She bit her lip, unable to visualise the Doctor's reaction to her question. "Can I _touch_ them?"

The Doctor grinned. "I don't see why not," he replied, lifting Robyn up to the tallest blooms. "But be careful," he warned, "just because these aren't Earth roses doesn't mean there aren't thorns."

Robyn looked back at him, giggling slightly. "What are you, my Dad?" she asked flippantly, then she blushed, realising what she was saying. "Actually, don't answer that. I'll be careful, honest." Reaching out, she let the petals of the roses brush against her fingertips, and her eyes widened in amazement by how soft they were. It was almost like touching air, if air was tangible enough to be touched. "Wow," she murmured for the second time that night. The thought of walking out of the TARDIS, and away from the Doctor and Amy just became a whole lot harder to comprehend. There was no way she would want to give them, and the beautiful garden, up now. They were the best friends she'd ever had, considering that she a) hadn't known them very long, and b) never had _any_ friends before.

She didn't want to give them up... ever.

"So," said the Doctor, depositing her back on the floor... ground... or whatever the substance beneath their feet decided to call itself. "What do you think?"

"It's fantastic," Robyn replied, even though she desperately wanted to tell him that she wanted to stay there forever. "I've never seen anything like this before!"

The Doctor nodded. "Good, I'm glad you like it!" He turned to Amy, who was now staring into space, unable to comprehend why she had a strange feeling of deja vu. "Amy?" He waved a hand in front of his companion's face, but she didn't make a move. "Amy."

Amy shook her head, and finally noticed that the Doctor was trying to get her attention. "Yes? What?"

"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, although he suspected he already knew what she was thinking about. Or rather, _who _she was thinking about, even though she didn't know who _he_ was.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amy replied noncommittally. "I just have this weird feeling... like there's something missing, but I can't remember what it is, or like I've been here before, but I don't remember being here in the first place." She looked at the Doctor strangely. "Does that sound weird to you?"

The Doctor went quiet, knowing if he spoke too quickly he might arouse her suspicions, and he didn't want that at all. It was hard enough hiding the engagement ring from her, considering how much a painful reminder it was for himself. In all honesty, he wasn't sure which was more painful, Rory's death, or the fact that Amy had forgotten about him so quickly, despite his best efforts. And on top of that were the cracks and finding the source. Amy was part of it, but how big a part he couldn't work out yet. That was one puzzle that preyed on his infallible Time Lord mind. "No, it's not weird," he said carefully. "Do you think it's weird?"

Amy looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes, but said nothing, which to the Doctor said everything. Yes, she did think it was weird, and it worried her greatly, so to just dismiss it would be wrong. Yet, dismissing it was the only option, at least until he could figure out a way to get her memories back. He stood abruptly, then took Robyn by the hand. "Come on, let's go find the observatory. I promised you an observatory, and I'm going to keep my promise... for once."

Robyn held onto the Doctor's hand tightly, but the whole exchange between her new friend and his companion worried her. There was something else going on, not just what was happening to her. She wasn't the Doctor's only problem at that point in time. She knew that she wasn't the first, and she was sure that she wouldn't be the last.

Then, for the second time that evening, she heard the birds.

**OoOoOoOoO**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The Doctor immediately knew something was wrong when Robyn's hand went limp. "Robyn," he said urgently, scooping the child into his arms. He could tell that she was fighting to stay awake; she was fighting a losing battle, but she was still fighting, and that was a good thing. "Robyn, listen to me. What do you hear? What's happening to you right now?"

"Birds," she managed weakly. "I can hear birds."

"And that's what you hear every time you go to sleep?"

Robyn nodded, still fighting to keep her eyes open. She yawned. "I don't want to go to sleep."

The Doctor pressed a kiss to the little girl's forehead. "I know you don't," he said, laying her gently on the ground. "But if I'm going to get inside your head, then you'll need to go to sleep for me. Can you do that?"

Amy snorted, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Well, she's not got any choice, has she?"

"Not now, Amy," the Doctor said sharply, kneeling by the child's side. It wasn't the time for jokes, or for harsh words, but he knew it was Amy's method of coping, so he would let it slide just this once. He turned his attentions back to Robyn, leaning in close to her. "Can you hear anything else, Robyn? Anything at all?"

"I can hear him," she said, yawning again. "He's making me fall asleep, but I don't want to." She blinked, keeping her eyes as open as she could. "I want to stay here... with you." She used what little energy she had left to look at the Doctor fearfully. "Will you be there when I wake up at... in the other place?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'll certainly try," he said, scooping her into his arms again. He turned to Amy. "We have to go back to the infirmary, it's better if she's in a bed than on the floor when she finally goes to sleep."

The hard look on Amy's face softened. She nodded in agreement, but still looked concerned. "What's that going to do?"

"Well, she'll be more comfortable in a bed, for a start," the Doctor began, pushing past her and heading down the corridor. Amy's reply was lost as he propelled himself through the winding halls, the pounding of his, and Amy's, footsteps ringing in his ears as he ran. With any luck, the noise would be enough to keep Robyn awake until he got her to the infirmary. "Stay with me, Robyn, don't go to sleep yet. Focus on my voice, and try to stay awake."

Robyn looked up at him, bleary-eyed, but said nothing.

The Doctor started to run faster, and Amy's footsteps faded momentarily as the distance between them increased. "I'm taking you back to the infirmary," he said, hoping that the little girl could still hear him, "and when we get there, I'm going to establish a psychic link between the two of us, so when you do fall asleep, I will too."

"What about Amy?" Robyn asked, letting out another yawn. "Will she fall asleep too?"

"No, actually," the Doctor replied, as the two of them made it to the infirmary. He quickly lay her down on the nearest bed, just as Amy sprinted into the room behind them. "Amy's going to stay out here," he continued, looking up at her as he knelt by Robyn's bedside, "because we need someone on the outside to monitor our vitals."

"Wait a minute," Amy protested. "Are you saying that I'm supposed just stay here and be your nurse maid?"

The Doctor nodded. As much as he wanted Amy there, it was better for both of them if she stayed in the waking world than be subjected to the Dream Lord's cruelty again. "You'll be our only link with the outside world, Amy," he told her. "And it's up to you, and the TARDIS, to keep Robyn and I safe. If what she told me about is true, then the next time she encounters it, whatever _it_ is, she might not live to see the real world ever again."

"And we can't let that happen," Amy replied grimly.

"Exactly."

"I just hope you know what you're doing," she grumbled.

"Oh, I do," the Doctor assured her. "But we can't waste any more time arguing about it." He turned back to Robyn, and then gently rest his hands on her face, spreading his fingers onto her temples and the bridge of her nose. "I want you to close your eyes, Robyn," he said carefully, "but I want you to keep trying to stay awake. Don't go to sleep until I say you can, all right?" He felt his hands move as Robyn bobbed her head in reply, and he grinned. "Good girl." He closed his own eyes now, concentrating on establishing the psychic link between himself and the little girl. In his mind's eye, two thin threads reached out towards one another, then tied themselves into a strand connecting them both. The Doctor grinned again, pleased that Robyn trusted him enough to establish the connection cleanly. "Contact," he murmured. "That's very good, Robyn. That's very, _very_, good." Then the threads began to split apart, as Robyn began to lose consciousness. The Doctor shook her slightly. "Stay awake, Robyn, and don't go to sleep until I say you can. I almost lost our link."

Robyn stirred, and the two threads strengthened, tying themselves back together. The Doctor could feel himself grow drowsy, but he knew he wasn't ready to let Robyn, or himself, go to the fabled land of Nod just yet. "Amy," he said, letting out a yawn. "I need you to help me into the bed."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What, with her?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied, yawning again. "I need to stay in close proximity to her so the link doesn't falter."

"Right." She frowned. "Although... how am I supposed to keep an eye on your vitals?"

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket, took out the sonic screwdriver and pushed a few buttons, then handed it to her. "I've just set it up for you," he said. "All you need to do is push the button at the top, then point it at us."

"Okay."

"Now, you need to help me into the bed," he said, the strains of bird song reaching his ears. "I haven't got much time left."

Without a second thought, Amy moved over to the Time Lord and helped him into the bed. "Blimey," she muttered. "You're heavy when you're about to pass out, aren't you?"

"_Amy_," the Doctor warned.

"Well you _are_," Amy countered.

The Doctor's retort died in his throat as his head hit the pillow, and he knew what energy he had left was put to better use elsewhere, so he drew Robyn close until she was lying in his arms. "You can go to sleep now," he whispered in her ear, and then, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, he joined her in slumber.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Robyn opened her eyes slowly, the pale pink of her bedroom wall swimming into view. She tried to move, then realised that she was not alone; someone was holding her in their arms. She could feel the scratchy tweed the arms were encased in, and instantly, she knew who it was. She craned her head around, and two pairs of grey-green eyes met. She grinned. "It worked," she murmured. "It_ worked!_"

The Doctor grinned back at her. "It most certainly did," he replied, as both of them sat up. "And now, it's time we looked for this man in the bow-tie."

"Do we have to?" Robyn asked quietly. "Something about him scares me, and I can't put my finger on why."

"You want to figure out how to get rid of him, don't you?"

Robyn opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. The Doctor had a point. She _did_ want the man in the bow-tie to go away, that was the very point of having the Doctor there with her. He was supposed to be able to help her, and to suddenly turn around and say that she didn't want to confront the man in the bow-tie was the wrong thing to do. "Yeah, I want to get rid of him," she said at last. "And I want to get rid of this place too. It hurts too much to be here again when I know it's really gone."

The Doctor nodded, smiling sadly. "I know how you feel." He glanced around the room. "So this was your bedroom," he mused. "When your parents were still alive, I mean." He walked over to a child-sized desk in the corner of the room, and then flipped through the books lying on top of it. "These books are empty. They've got no writing in them what so ever. The man in the bow-tie can obviously replicate the covers well enough, but he doesn't know enough to replicate the contents."

"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Robyn.

"Maybe nothing, and maybe everything. You can never be too careful with these things."

"Why would someone go to all that trouble?"

The Doctor dropped the book he was holding back onto the desk, then strode over to Robyn purposefully, before kneeling in front of her. "To convince you that this is real."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "Well, it didn't work, did it?" she said. "I knew this wasn't real from the moment I saw my parents, and this house. I was never going to be convinced this was real in the first place."

"Exactly," the Doctor replied, tapping her on the head. "So why go to all the trouble in the first place?"

"Maybe it's to convince someone else this is real," Robyn suggested. "Like that creature?"

The Doctor grinned. "That's a good suggestion, and I think you might have the right idea there." He stood, then took Robyn by the hand. "Come on, I think it's time we started to unravel this mystery."

The two of them quickly left Robyn's bedroom behind, proceeding to explore the house for any other clues that might be of use to them. But this time, something about the house felt even more wrong than it usually did. Almost as if Robyn, and the Doctor, were the only ones there. There was no sign of Robyn's mother, or her father, not that she'd seen much of her father any of the other times she found herself in the dream world. This was bad, somehow she knew it, and she suspected that the Doctor knew as much as well.

"Does this house fell... _empty_... to you, Robyn?"

Robyn nodded slowly. "Yeah," she replied. "It's too quiet. Even though I knew they weren't real, I could always hear my parents doing things, to make me think that I wasn't here alone."

"Ahh, more things designed to make you think that this place is real."

"But I _know_ it's not real," Robyn insisted. "I already told you that!"

"More proof that it doesn't work on you," the Doctor replied. "Which mustn't make the man in the bow-tie a very happy camper."

They went downstairs now, the search of the second floor proving unfruitful. Robyn led the Doctor into the kitchen, half expecting her not-mother to be there.

But she wasn't.

However the man in the bow-tie was, and he didn't seem surprised to see the Doctor.

Not in the slightest.

"Doctor!" the man in the bow-tie said, almost jovially. "I _never_ expected to see you here." Of course, this was a lie.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. The Dream Lord had, unsurprisingly, not changed a bit since their last encounter. Every about him was the same, and he still wore the same clothes that he'd worn when he'd almost tricked them into living a dream world forever. He couldn't let him do the same to Robyn, or to anybody else. The only thing that didn't make sense about the Dream Lord's presence was the fact that he, the Doctor, hadn't even met Robyn until he got the message on the psychic paper. "What are you doing here, Dream Lord?" he said carefully. "How can you be here?" An unpleasant thought dawned on him."Unless you're here because Robyn meets me in the _future!_" He frowned. "And something happened to leave you, or rather, an imprint of you, behind."

The Dream Lord applauded. "Close, but no cigar," he taunted. "You're only half right."

"Yes, but which half?"

"You'll just have to figure it out, won't you?" the Dream Lord said with a sneer. "Put all your little tawdry quirks to use."

The Doctor was about to reply, but he stopped when he felt Robyn tug on the sleeve of his jacket. He looked down, and he realised that there was a very pronounced expression of fear on her face. His first thought was that she was afraid of the Dream Lord... except she wasn't looking at the Dream Lord at all... in fact she was looking in another direction entirely.

"I'd pay attention to your little friend, Doctor," said the Dream Lord. "She knows more than she lets on."

But before the Doctor could ask him what he meant, the Dream Lord vanished, leaving him alone with a very frightened child.

"Doctor, it's here again," said Robyn, looking up at him. "We have to run!" She pointed in the direction she'd been fixated upon. "It wants to eat me, and I don't know why!"

The Doctor turned, then saw what Robyn was talking about. He quickly took her by the hand. "In that case we better run then."

Wasting no time, the human child and the Time Lord turned and fled, the ravenous creature that had appeared behind them snapping and biting at their heels as it gave chase.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Robyn and the Doctor had been running for quite some time now, and there seemed no way that they could get away from their pursuer at all. Of course, this was strange, because they both knew that they both should be waking up at that moment... and they _weren't_. They were both still in Robyn's nightmare world, running for their lives. So what was different this time? What was so different this time, that wasn't the previous times? There was something the Doctor was missing, and he needed a chance to think, but he knew they couldn't stop or the creature would catch up to them. Luckily, Robyn's nightmare world wasn't limited to her house, although the Doctor suspected that the Dream Lord might work things to the contrary, and confine them to the house, which would've made finding another place to go rather difficult.

"We'll need to find a place to hide," said the Doctor, panting heavily. "Until I can work out what it is, and how to get rid of it."

"How are we going to do that?" Robyn wheezed. "And besides, I'm usually awake by now!"

"I know," the Doctor replied. "So why aren't you this time?"

Robyn started to respond, then suddenly, with no warning at all, the Doctor pulled her out of the creature's path... and into an empty side street. The creature continued on its merry way, following the pre-existing scent, but she knew it wouldn't be fooled for long.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "There, that should by us some time to think."

"About how we're going to get rid of that thing?" asked Robyn, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Among other things," the Doctor replied. "We also need to work out why the Dream Lord is here, terrorising you."

Robyn frowned. "Yeah, about that... why do you call him the 'Dream Lord', and how on earth does he know you?"

The Doctor grimaced. "I'll explain later," he said, evading the question. "That's not our highest priority right now. Sorting you out, on the other hand, is."

"Which brings me back to my first question. How are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "Fat lot of good you are then."

"Well, I can't help you when you don't give me anything to work with."

"Tell me how the man in the bow-tie knows you, and maybe I'll think of something!"

The Doctor gave her a cold, hard, stare. He really didn't want to tell her who the Dream Lord was, but it was becoming clear that he would have no choice, not if he wanted to save the girl. He really needed more time to explain, but time wasn't something he had in abundance, not while that creature was still lurking about. "All right," he said at last. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise me one thing, just one small thing."

"Like what?"

"That you'll trust me."

"You think I don't?"

"After I tell you who the Dream Lord really is, you might not."

Robyn folded her arms across her chest, then leaned against the nearest wall. "Try me."

"TheDreamLordisme," the Doctor said quickly, trying to tell her without her actually hearing anything he said.

Robyn shook her head. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked. "Can you slow down?"

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "The Dream Lord is me. The reason he knows me, and was able to tell you so much about me, and the TARDIS, is because he is me. He's the darkness in me."

Robyn's eyes widened, and she stared at the Doctor, completely gobsmacked by what she was hearing. Did that mean the Doctor really couldn't help her? Was the Dream Lord lying to her this whole time? Why had the Doctor kept this from her for so long? Why had she trusted him in the first place? "Tell me you're lying," she said, her bottom lip quivering as she fought back tears. "Tell me that's not true, because if it is, then it means you're the one hurting me, not helping me."

"Robyn..." The Doctor knelt in front of her. "I'm not lying, but I can help you. I can stop him, if you let me." He drew her into his arms and held her tightly, letting her cry into his shoulder. "But you have to tell me what you know."

"What do you mean?" Robyn asked, between sobs. "I don't know anything."

The Doctor pulled away, and looked her straight in the eye. "The Dream Lord seems to think you do, and anything he thinks, I tend to think too, but not for the same reasons."

Robyn shook her head. "I really don't know, I mean, I'm just a little girl!"

"A little girl who's spent all her life alone, with only dreams and fairy tales to keep her company. I'd say there's something special about you. Something only you, and the Dream Lord, know about."

"If I'm so special, then why is all of this happening to me?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Who knows, but it's still happening, so it still needs to be dealt with."

"And there's that creature," Robyn reminded him. "The Dream Lord sends it after me. I think it wants to eat me, or it wants to eat my dreams."

Upon hearing this, the Doctor's eyes widened, and he smacked himself on the forehead. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before!" he exclaimed. He looked down at Robyn and grinned. "I know what that creature is now; what it is, and how to get rid of it!"

"Really?"

"Really, but you're going to need to trust me, especially when we find it again."

Robyn yelped. "When we find it again?" she asked. "I thought we were trying to get away from it, not go looking for it!"

"And we will," the Doctor replied, taking her by the hand. "But we have to find it so I can work my magic and get rid of it for you. That's what I'm here for, after all."

But Robyn realised that after getting rid of the creature, the Doctor and Amy would go away, never to come back, and she wouldn't see them again. Another person would leave her. They all did eventually. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly, trying hard to keep her emotions in check. A tall order for a young girl.

"It's a Menolissian Wolverine," said the Doctor, scratching his chin. "Well, that's the only way to describe it." He frowned. "The problem is," he continued, "Menolissian Wolverines have been extinct for millennia, and the only way anyone could know about them was if they read about them or..."

"They were you," said Robyn, finishing his thought.

The Doctor nodded. "Or if they were me," he echoed.

"So how _do _we get rid of a Menolissian Wolverine?"

"We don't."

**OoOoOoOoO**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"But you just said you knew how to get rid of it!" Robyn exclaimed. "And now you're telling me we don't!"

The Doctor grinned. "That's right."

"Are you bleeding bonkers?"

"I've been called worse."

Robyn shook her head in disbelief. "I... I... Oh brother!"

"Look," said the Doctor. "We don't get rid of Menolissian Wolverines because they go away of their own accord when they lose interest in what they're pursuing."

"Before or after they've eaten us?"

"Before, because Menolissian Wolverines aren't carnivorous."

Robyn snorted. "Tell that to the one that's trying to eat me."

"No, seriously, it won't eat you, because Menolissian Wolverines are just pets. They were a domesticated animal before they died out."

"So, what's it doing?"

"It's playing."

"What?"

"It's only a puppy, so to speak."

"So, all this time, I've been worried about a puppy?"

The Doctor nodded. "That's right. Just an overgrown puppy. It thinks you're its owner."

"Oh that's rich," Robyn scoffed. "I hope you're right, and that's all it is. Because if you're wrong, and it does eat me, then I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!"

"Is that a threat?" the Doctor asked, the hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Or a promise?"

Robyn smiled back at him, despite herself. "Oh, it's a promise all right."

"Then I'll hold you to it." He moved to the entrance of the side street, and then poked his head out. "The cost is clear, for now, at least."

"Good."

"Let's get back to your house, and we'll see if anything there has changed."

Robyn looked at him in confusion. "You think it might have?"

"Anything's possible here, especially when the Dream Lord is about."

"So nothing should be left to chance?"

"Exactly."

The walk back to Robyn's house was either very long, or very short, depending on how you looked at it. It was difficult to judge how long the Doctor and Robyn had been travelling, since time practically had no meaning while they were in the nightmare world. If they'd been in the waking world, the Doctor would've found it quite dull because everything was moving slowly, and in the right order. Of course, he still find it quite dull, because that was nothing unusual about his character.

"What do you think might've changed at my house?" asked Robyn. "Do you think that the Dream Lord might've brought my parents back again?"

"That's one possibility," the Doctor replied. "Or he might have found the Menolissian Wolverine, and it's waiting for us there."

"What, so it can lick me to death?" said Robyn. She sensed that there might be one more thing that the Doctor wasn't telling her, but she wasn't about to make it obvious to him that she did. "If it really is an overgrown puppy, I mean."

"Oh, it can't hurt you," the Doctor assured her. "Menolissian Wolverines, like I told you before, aren't carnivorous. They're herbivores, but they were hunted to extinction for their pelts by people... aliens... who didn't realise they were killing people's pets."

Robyn winced. "Thanks, I really needed to know that," she said sarcastically. "Makes me think of that story with the Dalmatians and that woman trying to turn them into a fur coat."

"I always preferred 'The Lion King' myself," the Doctor replied absently.

"Me too."

Robyn's house loomed on the horizon, and almost immediately, the Doctor set to work, checking for any signs that the nightmare world could be dissolved. There was a strange feeling in the air, and Robyn instantly became afraid. The fear seemed to come to her easier and easier with each passing moment. But she was sure there was nothing to be afraid of, except for the Dream Lord, and she wasn't even sure she should have been afraid of him. There was really nothing in the nightmare world that was able to hurt her, and the one thing she believed that would hurt her, in reality, was nothing more than a harmless animal.

"He's not a tame lion," she said, watching the Doctor race about the perimeter of the building. "But he's good."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, and turned to face the little girl. "What did you say?" he asked.

Robyn bit her lip. "Just something from The Chronicles of Narnia," she replied. "Something that stuck with me, ever since I could remember."

"Yes, that's good. Remembering's good. Keep doing it; it might help you one day."

"How?"

"You'll know, when you need to."

"Whatever you say," Robyn replied, smiling at him and rolling her eyes.

The Doctor turned back to the house. "Now, this house does not exist, correct?"

"That's right."

"And therefore, the people in it, other than you and I, should not exist either."

"Yeah, because my parents died in a car accident, and then my godparents died in the fire that burnt it down."

"And you're sure that actually happened?"

Robyn frowned, unable to understand where his train of thought was going, or whether it had even left the station in the first place. "Of course, I'm sure."

"Then who," the Doctor picked Robyn up and held her so she could look through the window, and into the kitchen, "is that?"

There was a woman sitting at the kitchen table, minding her own business, who had more than a passing resemblance to the little girl in the Doctor's arms. There was no mistaking who it was, but Robyn knew that he was asking so the idea of her was firmly at the forefront of their minds. Robyn sighed. "That's my mum, well, the person the Dream Lord says is my mum."

The Doctor replaced Robyn on the ground. "I think we should go inside, don't you?" he asked.

"Why?" said Robyn. "She's only going to act the way the Dream Lord makes her act. She's probably not even going to realise you're there!"

"All the better for me to observe what she does," the Doctor replied, tapping the side of his nose with his finger. "And to do that you're going to have to talk to her like she is real."

"But she's not," Robyn replied, suddenly feeling very scared again, even though she couldn't explain it. "She never was, and I can't talk to her like she is. I barely know her!"

The Doctor looked down at the girl tenderly. "Then maybe this is your chance to do that. Just for a little while."

Robyn stared at him for a few moments, trying to make a decision, but it wasn't the one the Doctor thought she was making, but something else. Her parents, her godparents, the house. All that was her past, and it was clear, in her mind at least, that her future lay in the stars.

With the Doctor.

It was at this point, this insignificant point, that Robyn Lawson decided she wanted to be adopted.

Furthermore, she wanted to be adopted by the Doctor.

She would still do as he wanted, and talk to her not-mother like she was her real mother, but once they were back in the real world, she was going to do everything in her power to ask the Doctor to let her stay. She could see that he was a father without a child, and she was a child without a father. Where was the harm in that?

"So, coming?"

"Yes."

And they would've walked straight into the house... or they would have if the Menolissian Wolverine hadn't appeared out of nowhere and attacked the Doctor, spiriting him away, and out of sight.

**OoOoOoOoO**

"_DOCTOR!_" Robyn screamed, as the beast took him away. She started to run after it, hoping that she would get to it before it could hurt him. But something held her back, just a little bit. The Doctor had told her that the Menolissian Wolverine was just a pet, and in this case just an overgrown puppy, but the way it attacked her before, and now that it had taken the Doctor, proved that there was something else about it that was wrong. It didn't feel like it should've been harmless, it didn't have that thing that gave you a sense of security, false or otherwise. Why did it feel like it was trying to hurt her, and now it was trying to hurt the Doctor?

"_DOCTOR__!_" Robyn screamed again, this time hoping to get some kind of answer, because if she didn't, it meant that the Doctor was hurt... or worse, and that wasn't a possibility she wanted to think about.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had a problem. The Menolissian Wolverine had just attacked him and carried him off right in front of Robyn's eyes. He'd hoped she would've been inside the house before it turned up, so she wouldn't have to see him like this, but that hope had been dashed as soon as the beast tackled him. He'd lied to Robyn, telling her that Menolissian Wolverines were herbivores, and merely domesticated animals, but they weren't. They never were, and he knew that from the very beginning. Menolissian Wolverines really were carnivorous, and they were also very clever, only choosing prey they were sure wouldn't fight back.

Of course, this one had made a huge mistake.

The beast slammed the Doctor onto the ground, hovering over the supine Time Lord. He panted heavily, his hot breath filling the air.

The smell of it all was excruciating, and the Doctor wrinkled his nose. "What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Are you waiting for your master, is that it?"

The beast snorted. This meat was playing with him, trying to buy himself some time, but it wasn't going to work. He raised one of his claws and prepared to bring it down upon his prey. He would feast well on this catch, and then he would move on to the young one, the one that had been evading him all this time and disappearing before he could feel her life-blood between his jaws.

"You're not going to get her," the Doctor taunted, though in hindsight he knew this was a bad idea, and would only succeed in making the beast angry. "She's going to wake up soon, and she'll be safe."

"That's a lie, and you know it, Doctor," said the Dream Lord, who had now appeared behind the animal. "She's no more safe here than she is anywhere else. Her own life story so far even proves that much."

"She's safer out there, with real people who can protect her, than here with nothing but memories, and fairy tales, and people like us."

The Dream Lord sniffed. "Now that's where you're wrong, Doctor," he replied. "Here she's probably better protected than she would be out in the real world. Here she's got her family."

"No, I don't," came a small voice behind him, sad and forlorn. "I have memories, brought to life by someone who never thought about how it might hurt me. I am Robyn Guinevere Lawson, daughter of Phillipa and Damian Lawson, and I saw my parents die in a car accident that happened right in front of my house. Then I lost my house, and my godparents, to a fire that could've been avoided, but wasn't. I have to remember that every single day, and I'm only a kid." Robyn stepped into the clearing, the beginnings of tears springing to her eyes when she saw the Doctor lying on the ground. "You brought them back, and you had no right to do that. I mean, you may be part of the Doctor, Dream Lord, and you may make up part of what makes him so great, but you're not the only thing. I've seen who he is, and I can see where you live inside him, but you are not the only thing that makes him who he is. He's got friends, and they're just as much a part of him as you are. They make him good, and kind, and the most wonderful person to be with. Sure he's got his moments, the little windows where you show yourself, but that's all they are. Windows." Her eyes narrowed. "As for you being here, I have no idea _how_ you got here, and I don't care to find out, but I know that I want you, and this place, gone."

The Dream Lord did not look impressed by the child's speech. "And your point?"

"You play on my fear, don't you?" Robyn asked, ignoring his response. "You play on my fear, the Doctor's fear, even Amy's fear, despite the fact that she can't remember it." She frowned, realising what she was saying. "I don't even understand how I know it, but the point is, if you think you can get by thinking that I fear you, and that I fear that," she pointed to the Menolissian Wolverine, "then you've got another thing coming." She smiled brightly. "I will never fear you ever again."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"I'm not, but as long as the Doctor remains in the world, then there's always a bit of hope." She grinned. "And now, if you don't mind..."

Racing forward and pushing past the Dream Lord, Robyn ran towards the Menolissian Wolverine. "Hey, wolfie," she called. "Why don't you leave him alone, and come and get what you've really wanted!" She waved at the beast in a manner that she hoped was enticing enough to distract it long enough for the Doctor to get away.

The beast looked at the Doctor, then at Robyn, trying to decide whether to stick with what it already had, or to go for the morsel that was practically offering itself to him. It sniffed the Doctor once, then looked at Robyn again. As much as he hated letting meat go, the beast decided that it would take the opportunity presented and make another attempt to catch the young one.

The one that smelt like time, and old things, could wait for another day.

Of course, the Doctor knew what Robyn was doing, and he didn't like it one bit. Distractions were one thing, but once you got the attention of the thing you were distracting, everything seemed to go downhill from there. "Robyn," he said carefully, picking himself off the ground and shaking the dust from his clothes. "Stay where you are, and don't move a muscle."

Robyn smiled at him. "It's okay, Doctor," she replied. "I'm not afraid of it anymore."

"I know, and that's good, but it can still hurt you."

"I know it can, and that's why I have to let it."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "_What?_"

"Something I saw, in your head," said Robyn, taking a tentative step away from him. "I peaked, or maybe you wanted me to see it, but..." She smiled sadly. "The last time you encountered the Dream Lord, he said that if you die in a dream, you wake up in the real world."

"Oh, Robyn..."

"See you when we wake up, Doctor."

And then she ran.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Robyn ran until she thought her lungs would burst from the strain. The Menolissian Wolverine was hot on her heels, but she knew she couldn't stop, not when there was one place, and two people, she wanted to see one last time before she let it catch her. She ran towards the house that shouldn't exist, to the mother and father that left her so long ago. She'd accepted that they would never replace her real parents, and the Doctor, when he adopted her, if he adopted her, would never replace them either, but that was all right, because the family she would make with him, and Amy, and the beautiful big blue box, would be the best family anyone could have.

She raced into the kitchen of her old house, nearly knocking Phillipa down with the force of the hug she gave her.

"What's brought this on?" she asked, not realising the enormity of the situation.

"I just wanted to say... I love you, Mum," Robyn replied. "And I'm sorry for saying you're not real, because you are, and you were, and you always will be, even though I'm not going to see you again."

Phillipa looked at her daughter in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course you're going to see me again."

Robyn shook her head. "Not this time, and not any time soon. I can't explain it, but... I'm going to go away soon."

"What are you talking about?" Phillipa said with a laugh. "You're talking like you're about to die or something."

"I am. There's a creature, it's called a Menolissian Wolverine, and it wants to eat me. I have to let it eat me, or I'll never have another proper dream again. I've been dreaming about you, and Dad, and our house, but they're all gone, and this... person... was trying to convince me they were real. I'm asleep right now, and you're... well... you're dead, Mum."

Phillipa's face darkened. "Now that's not a nice thing to say, young lady."

"But you are," Robyn insisted. "And Dad too... and Uncle Tommy, and Aunt Daisy. I've been living in an orphanage, and the only way for me to get back there is for me to die."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"I'm not dead, Robyn, and neither is your father, nor are Uncle Tommy and Aunt Daisy. Stop saying such malicious things."

"Even though you're starting to believe they're true?" said a familiar voice, coming from the doorway.

Robyn turned, and her eyes widened. "Doctor!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping you." He sauntered into the room and took Robyn by the hand. "And making sure you knew exactly what you're doing."

"Who are you?" asked Phillipa, eyeing the new arrival apprehensively. "How did you get in my house?"

"I'm the Doctor," he replied. "I'm a friend of your daughter's... so to speak. She let me in."

Robyn looked up at him, confused not only by his swift arrival, but the distinct lack of a certain Menolissian Wolverine. "I did?" The Doctor looked at her meaningfully. "Oh, I mean, yeah, I did. I let him in."

Phillipa looked at the both of them suspiciously. "How come I've never seen you before?"

"He's not around very often," said Robyn. "And when he's here, it's only in very special circumstances." She started to drag him from the room. "I'll be back in a minute, I need to talk to him up in my room."

"All right," Phillipa replied, the look of suspicion never leaving her eyes. "But don't stay up there too long."

"We won't, Mum."

Once they were upstairs, Robyn turned to the Doctor, looking at him with disbelief, and the smallest hint of joy. She was glad that he managed to get there without the beast catching him, but she was also confused that he'd shown up and the Menolissian Wolverine hadn't. It'd been right behind her, there'd been no mistake of that, so how was he there before it was?

"I know what you're thinking," said the Doctor quietly. "You're asking yourself how I can be here before the Menolissian Wolverine."

Robyn nodded. "I thought it would get to me first," she admitted. "But I'm... happy that you're here instead."

"Are you really?"

"What sort of question is that?" Robyn countered. "Of course I am."

The Doctor smiled. "Well, that's good." He sat down on the bed. "Now, while we wait for it to show up, why don't you tell me what you plan to do after this is all over, hmm?"

Robyn blushed. "Well, for a start... I thought I could come with you."

"You've been inside my head, and you've seen what the Dream Lord can do, you've seen what I can do..." He frowned. "Are you sure coming with me is what you really want?"

"More than anything," Robyn replied, a hint of determination creeping into her voice. "I want you to adopt me... if that's all right with you."

"I've been a father before, and a grandfather, but you should know that from looking at my memories. I've said it once, and I'll say it again... are you sure coming with me... are you sure me adopting you is what you want?"

Robyn nodded. "I've never been as sure about anything in my life, Doctor."

"You know you'll be in for a lot of heartbreak, don't you?"

"I do, but I'll deal with it when it happens, and not before."

"Good answer." The Doctor paused for a moment and looked Robyn up and down, as if sizing her up for something. "How old are you?"

Robyn grinned. "How old are you?"

"You tell me, and then I'll tell you."

"I'm eight, but I'll be nine in a couple of months."

The Doctor nodded, processing the information. "I'm nine-hundred and seven," he replied offhandedly.

"Wow, that's old."

"Everyone seems to think so, but that's only because I haven't told them how old I really am."

Robyn looked at him in confusion. "How old are you really, then?"

"I don't remember," the Doctor confessed. "Time travel. After a while the days all start to blend together, and then you don't remember whether you're coming or going. But then that can work in your favour, or it can't."

"And how do you know when it will, and when it won't?"

"You don't. You just keep muddling on, and hope for the best."

Just then, the two of them heard a scream, then a crash, and then nothing.

"It's here," said the Doctor sadly. "It's time."

Robyn looked down at the floor. "I suppose it is."

She took the Doctor's hand and clasped it tightly. "You never said whether or not you were going to adopt me, Doctor," she added. "Will you?"

"We'll see."

**OoOoOoOoO**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

There was an intensity in the air as Robyn and the Doctor descended the stairs. Neither of them said a word, and swiftly returned to the kitchen. The Menolissian Wolverine was in the middle of the room, and everything had been trashed. The kitchen table had been completely overturned, and empty drawers had been ripped from their places. Phillipa had passed out cold at the sight of the beast, which made Robyn feel a little better, since she knew that her not-mother would not see anything when it happened.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Robyn asked quietly, not wanting to get the beast's attention before it was necessary. "Are we going to try and lure it away from here?"

The Doctor nodded. "That's our best bet," he replied. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Then let's go."

Robyn cleared her throat, and stepped forward. "Hey, wolfie," she called, knowing how well the name worked before. "Come and get me. I won't run... too far."

That did it. The Menolissian Wolverine turned to face the little girl and roared, enraged that the child was taunting it again. It was time to claim its prize.

As the beast gave chase, the Doctor and Robyn turned on their heels and fled, racing out of the house, and as far down the street as their legs could carry them. They'd already decided upstairs that they'd find a clearing, or as close to a clearing as they could get, and then stop running. They would wait for the beast, and once he was there, let him kill them. Although she didn't show it, and she didn't say so, the Doctor knew Robyn was scared. There was no way someone wouldn't be. Getting mauled to death by a Menolissian Wolverine was not exactly a nice way to die.

"We're almost there," said the Doctor, when the clearing came into view. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"Do I look like I'm six, Doctor?" Robyn replied. "I can run just fine."

"All right then, have it your way."

"Thank you."

The clearing was a big wide space, big enough that the nearest trees were about four or five feet away. If they wanted to, the Doctor and Robyn could've climbed the trees, but that would've also made things too difficult for the beast to catch them. No, for now, and until they woke up in the TARDIS, they would need to stay close to the ground.

"How far away is it?" asked Robyn, panting as she looked around for a sign of the beast. "Is it almost here?"

"Almost," the Doctor replied, pointing in the direction they'd just come from. "There it is."

And sure enough, the Menolissian Wolverine was on the horizon, growing bigger and bigger as it headed towards them. It looked mad, and Robyn was certain that it was mad at her for taunting it. She wondered if it was a bad thing that she was making it play with its food, but realised that when you're the food, those ideas didn't really apply any more.

"I'm ready," Robyn said quietly. "And I'll see you when we wake up."

She let go of the Doctor's hand, and immediately felt sick to her stomach by what she was about to do. She knew it had to be done, but it hurt to know that the only way to save herself was to die, even though that death wasn't real. She took some comfort in the fact that she might finally leaving the orphanage after all the time she lived there.

No, it wasn't really living. It was just existing, while the other girls teased and belittled her for what she believed in. She really could wait to see the backs of them when she left with the Doctor... if she left with the Doctor. He still hadn't given her a definite answer as to whether he'd adopt her or not, but she never gave up hope. She'd plead her case to the ends the Earth and back again until he gave her an answer.

The Menolissian Wolverine shot forward, grabbing Robyn by the arm. She cried out, more from the shock of it than from the pain, which followed close behind. She could feel the teeth gripping and tearing the skin and the fabric of her nightie, but she kept her tears at bay. She needed to stay strong until the final moment between her death in the nightmare world, and her awakening in the real world. For a moment, she thought she heard the Doctor calling out to her, but the sound was drowned out by the pounding of the blood rushing through her ears. It wouldn't be long now, she could already feel herself weakening and everything in her field of vision started to become blurry.

The darkness hadn't come yet, but Robyn knew it would come soon. She wasn't scared any more. The Doctor was there with her in the nightmare world, and he would be there when she woke up. She wasn't going to be alone any more. She was going to travel through the stars in a big blue box with the daftest alien you ever met, and his best friend who acted more like his sister even though the age difference between them was so ridiculously huge it was hard to keep track of it.

Tiny black dots appeared in front of her eyes now, and Robyn knew that the end was edging closer and closer. It wouldn't be long until she finally left the nightmare world for good. She was growing weaker, and weaker, and weaker, and the black dots started joining together to become bigger dots, and then they joined together to become even bigger dots, and then they joined together to become dark splotches becoming blacker and blacker as her vision faded.

But the one thought that saw her through it all, besides the thought that she would stay with the Doctor, was that she was going to the one place she'd wanted for so long.

She was going home...

And in a matter of moments...

She'd be there...

The dark splotches grew bigger, and bigger, and then...

She was gone.

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Robyn..."

Someone was talking to her...

"Robyn..."

They were Scottish...

Amy!

Robyn's eyes opened slowly, and this time, instead of impossible pale pink walls, there were the orangey-yellowy brassy coloured walls of the TARDIS. She was starting to wake up... and she was alive! She could still feel the Doctor's arms wrapped around her, and she smiled, leaning back into him.

"Robyn," Amy said again, pointing the sonic screwdriver at her. She pushed the button that the Doctor had told her to push and the tool burst into life, making the familiar whirring noise as she waved it over the waking child. Then she flicked it the way she remembered the Doctor doing it, and looked at the panel on the side. "Well, that's saying you're normal," she said, though Robyn wasn't paying attention to her.

"I'm back," Robyn said quietly, her voice filled with relief. "And I can't hear the Dream Lord any more!"

Amy frowned. "Who?"

Robyn blushed. "Oh, nobody," she said dismissively. "Though I think you better check the Doctor. It sounds like he's starting to come around."

And he was. With a loud groan, the Doctor returned to consciousness. He still remembered watching the Menolissian Wolverine as it had killed Robyn, then him, but he had no intentions of keeping those memories, at least not at the forefront of his mind.

"And he's back," said Amy sarcastically. "What took you so long?"

The Doctor sat up, bringing Robyn with him. "Sonic me," he said simply, the tone of his voice implying that he wasn't in the mood for sarcasm.

Amy pointed the sonic screwdriver at him as he had instructed, and repeated the procedure that she'd performed when Robyn had first woken up. "You're normal," she replied. "Well, as normal as a Time Lord can get, because you are definitely not normal whatsoever."

The Doctor held out his hand, but still held Robyn with the other. "Could I have my screwdriver back please?"

Amy nodded. "Here you go."

"Thank you." The Doctor looked down at Robyn. "Now, Robyn, I'm going to scan your hair."

Robyn looked up the Doctor in confusion. "What, why?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Amy, a similar expression darkening her features. "What could possibly be in her hair that you need to scan for it?"

"Pollen, Pond."

"Pollen?"

"Pollen."

Robyn shook her head. Why would he need to scan for pollen, of all things? Did it have something to do with the dream world? Or was there another reason for it? "Why would there be pollen in my hair?"

"Oh, pollen can get stuck in anything," the Doctor replied. "Hair, clothing, anything. But we're looking for a specific type of pollen."

"And what's that?"

"Psychic pollen. Causes psychic episodes, creates psychic parasites. Nasty stuff if you let it get out of hand, or it gets a chance to run amok in a little girl's imagination."

"And that's what was affecting me?"

The Doctor nodded, then waved the sonic over Robyn's head. "That's right, and when I established the psychic link between us, it affected me too." Before he said anything else, the Doctor noticed a glint resting between two strands of the little girl's hair. "And I've just found the pollen."

A tiny speck of something rest in the Doctor's palm. At first Robyn it looked like a sequin, or the smallest of diamonds. It sparkled in the light, and the colours it made danced off the walls. To think that it had been stuck in her hair all that time... It had been the source of all her nightmares. It looked so insignificant, and it had been a massive, yet terrifying, part of her life. It had brought her the man she wanted to call father. It had brought her so much to be happy about...

And now she just wanted it gone.

"Good," she said, refusing to look at the speck of pollen any more. "Can we get rid of it now?"

"In a little while. I need to find a place to keep it safe for the time being. Can't release it here in case it attaches itself to one of us, or to some other innocent person."

Robyn nodded. "All right."

"So, what are we going to do now?" asked Amy, clapping her hands together. "And I have no idea what time it is, because you two were out of it for ages."

The Doctor checked his watch. "It's... morning."

"_Morning_?" Robyn exclaimed. "I'm going to be in so much _trouble_!" She climbed out of the Doctor's arms. "If I've been out all night, then Miss Faversham will _know_ I'm gone, and then I'll get into trouble for running away _again!_"

"Well, we can't have that, now can we?" said the Doctor. "I think I need to talk to your Miss Faversham about some things."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Like what?" she asked, suspecting that the Doctor was going to do his usual thing and get them all into trouble again, which was made more annoying by the fact that he'd just got Robyn _out_ of trouble. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"I wasn't intending to, but for you I _could_make an exception?" The Doctor grinned, clearing indicating that he was joking. He adjusted his jacket, then stood up, taking Robyn by the hand. "We'll explain to Miss Faversham that you got into a bit of trouble, which isn't exactly a lie, and we brought you home with us when we found you. Again, not a lie."

"She's not going to like that," Robyn replied. "She might even accuse you of kidnapping me."

Amy frowned. "She's got a point there, Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head. "And we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, leading them out of the infirmary and back through the TARDIS. "Besides, I can be very persuasive when I need to be."

"Yep. We're doomed," Amy muttered under her breath.

"I heard that."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Just as Robyn had said, Miss Faversham, the house mother in charge of the orphanage, was waiting for them when they entered the building. There was no mistaking the anger on her face, although it was quickly changed to astonishment when she saw the Doctor. "It's you," she said, blinking rapidly, then taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes to make sure she was seeing exactly who she thought she was seeing. "You're the Doctor!"

The Doctor looked at the woman in confusion, but said nothing.

Miss Faversham replaced her glasses firmly on the bridge of her nose. "I thought Robyn'd just run away again," she continued. "But if you're here now..."

Amy frowned. "What are you talking about?" she said. "We haven't see you before in our lives."

"Time Travel, Amy," said the Doctor, patting her on the arm. "Just because things don't happen in the right order, doesn't mean they won't happen at all." He cocked his head to one side. "Except when they don't."

"Come with me," said Miss Faversham, taking a step towards the group. "There's something you need to see, something that I was instructed to show you now."

The Doctor looked at her carefully. "Who did?"

Miss Faversham shook her head, and smiled apologetically. "I'm not supposed to tell you," she replied. "But they said when you saw what you needed to see, then you'd know."

Robyn looked amused. "Does this mean I'm not in trouble?"

"No, you're still in trouble," Miss Faversham replied, smiling again. "But that won't matter any more after today."

"What happens today?" asked the Doctor.

Miss Faversham shrugged. "That's up to you to decide," she said. "Now, are you coming or not?"

Without waiting for an answer, the woman turned on her heel and started to walk away, leading the trio to her office. It was quite a normal room, by anyone's standards. It had a filing cabinet, and a desk, and a computer; all the proper office equipment. There were two chairs in front of the desk, and a third, most likely Miss Faversham's, behind it. Robyn and Amy moved to the chairs and sat down, although the Doctor stayed by the doorway, assuming it would be the best place to be in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

"So, what did you want me to see?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

Miss Faversham didn't answer straight away, moving to the filing cabinet and opening it. She pulled out a file, and the Doctor's keen eye noticed that it was Robyn's, her name marking it at the top with a small photograph of the smiling child attached next to it. She sat down at her desk, then thumbed through the file, pulling out a small folded piece of paper. "This, Doctor, is what I was instructed to show you," she said at last, standing up and around the desk, crossing the room to join him. "This is what I'm supposed to give you."

"A note? So what does it say?"

"You tell me," Miss Faversham replied. "I'm only the messenger."

"So you are," the Doctor replied, smiling a knowing smile. He took the note from Miss Faversham and opened it. He read the contents, and glancing at Robyn every so often. He grinned. "You took very good care of this," he said cryptically. "And of her."

Miss Faversham smiled proudly. "It's my job. All the children in my care are well looked after."

"Yet, she still fell through the cracks, so to speak," he replied, looking at Robyn meaningfully. "Not those cracks, Amy," he added hastily. "Just a figure of speech, this time."

"It better be," Amy replied, shooting him a worried look.

"Oh, it is."

The Doctor strode into the office, then picked Robyn up from the chair in which she sat, then sat down himself, depositing the child in his lap. He looked at Amy. "What would you say to someone joining us on..." He glanced at Miss Faversham. "Well, what would you say to someone joining us on our travels?"

Amy's eyes widened. "I don't know," she replied. "It depends on who you had in mind, I guess."

"I mean, we'd have to choose our destinations more carefully, or as carefully as we can, but I think it could work." The Doctor looked down at Robyn. "Do you think it could work?"

Robyn looked up at the Doctor in astonishment. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Well?"

"I think it could work," Robyn said slowly, a sly smile creeping across her face.

The Doctor grinned. "Nice to know we're in agreement then!" He turned to Miss Faversham. "I believe that there's some paper work in regards to this endeavour," he said. "Or else this would be construed as kidnapping, am I right?"

Miss Faversham nodded. "That's right."

Amy shook her head. "What, you're actually going to adopt her?"

"Of course I am. Why shouldn't I?"

"I didn't think you'd actually do it," she replied, leaning back in her seat. "Not your thing."

"How do you know it's not my thing?" the Doctor countered. "Nine hundred and seven, remember. I've done lots of things you'd never think were my thing, but that doesn't mean I haven't done them." He turned to Miss Faversham, who didn't looked phased at all by the fact that he'd just said he was nine hundred and seven. "I believe I want to adopt this young lady, and I believe you can help me."

She nodded. "I can, and you won't even have to wait very long for the adoption to be finalised." She smiled. "In fact, the process was started months ago."

"As stated in that note."

Robyn looked at Miss Faversham, then at the Doctor, in confusion. "But, how could that happen?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Wibbley wobbley, timey wimey," he replied, as that would be enough to explain it.

"Anyway," Miss Faversham continued. "The process was started months ago, and those of your associates who could vouch for your character were contacted, and they were just as surprised by this as I was, but your application to adopt young Robyn Guinevere Lawson was approved."

"Just like that?" asked Amy.

"Just like that," answered the Doctor, looking at her smugly. "It helps when you have friends in high places."

"So, I can leave with the Doctor, and Amy, right now?" asked Robyn.

"As soon as the papers are signed," Miss Faversham replied. "Which includes the application to be home-schooled."

"Ah, good." Miss Faversham passed the Time Lord the open file and a pen, which he used to sign the papers inside with a flourish. "There, done. Now we can go."

"Not yet, Doctor."

"Why?"

"Your newly adopted _daughter_ needs to get dressed and collect her things before she can go anywhere."

The Doctor looked down at Robyn, who smiled up at him, clearly having the time of her life.

She was also still clad in her nightdress, and the warm clothes she'd thrown over the top.

"Ah."

He placed Robyn back on the floor, and directed her to Miss Faversham. The girl didn't protest, in fact she went with the older woman quite readily, since she now knew that she'd be leaving when she was all packed up and ready to go.

"So you really did it," said Amy in disbelief. "You actually went ahead and _adopted_ a little girl." She looked at the Doctor suspiciously. "What did that note say?" The Doctor wordlessly handed her the note so she could read it. "_Oh._"

"_Oh_, is right."

"So we need to..."

"Go back a few months and get the adoption process started. You wait here for Robyn, and I'll be back in five minutes."

Amy nodded. "Don't be late."

"I won't."

"That's what you always say."

**OoOoOoOoO**


	7. Epilogue

**OoOoOoOoO**

Later that day, when everything had been set in motion, the newly formed TARDIS trio were relaxing in the console room. Amy was reading a book, while the Doctor was explaining to Robyn the finer points of happy prime numbers.

The TARDIS itself hummed contentedly, pleased that her pilot now had someone who needed him as much he needed her. She'd known the heartbreak he'd been through, all the people he'd loved and lost, so it was a delightful change to see him happy. Amy had helped, to a point, and the TARDIS was grateful that she had. But there was something special about having a child on board that she'd missed. She still remembered Susan, and the Doctor's promise that he'd return for her, but now... now she was sure that would never happen, so Robyn was the next best thing.

Robyn laughed. "That's weird," she said, after the Doctor had finished explaining happy prime numbers.

"You're weird, Robyn Lawson," the Doctor replied. "But I don't see anyone laughing at you."

"That's because there isn't anyone to laugh at me any more," Robyn countered. "Because I have a home, and that lot back at the orphanage don't!" She smiled. "Besides, even if they do find homes, and people who want to adopt them, they haven't got you, have they?"

The Doctor patted the top of her head. "No, they don't."

Robyn frowned for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. "What am I supposed to call you?" she asked. "I mean, I could still keep calling you Doctor, but that wouldn't sound right, would it?"

"Well, that's something for you to decide," the Doctor replied. "What do you think you should call me?"

"Him in the bow-tie," Amy interjected, smiling wickedly.

Robyn giggled.

The Doctor looked at his companion in annoyance. "Oi, none of that." He turned back to Robyn. "What do you think you should call me," he repeated. "And not 'him in the bow-tie', that would be silly."

Amy laughed. "But accurate," she said.

Robyn thought carefully. "Oh, it probably sounds too human for you, but... can I call you 'Dad'?"

"I was called 'Grandfather' once, and that sounds human too."

"I know, but..."

"Dad is fine."

Robyn smiled, pleased that her suggestion had been accepted, and not shot down in flames. To be able to call the Doctor 'Dad' cemented the sense of family she'd felt ever since she'd met him, and she loved every minute of it. She knew there'd be times where she'd need to run, to be scared for her life, and to be scared for his, but that could be dealt with when it presented itself, and not before, just like she'd told him in the nightmare world.

Thanks to a little speck of pollen, a little girl who had nothing, found a family.

A rather strange and disjointed family, but a family all the same.

The adventures that came with it, however, were a bonus.

The family was the greater reward.

The End.

**OoOoOoOoO**


End file.
